Headlines
Batch of Maggi noodles ordered off-shelf, Nestle says safety norms strict
Lucknow/New Delhi, May 21
Amid concerns over
"dangerous levels" of some substances in the popular snack Maggi
noodles, the Uttar Pradesh food safety body on Thursday said its
manufacturer Nestle was asked to recall the said batch, while the
company assured it followed strict norms.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy
Food Safety Commissioner Vijay Bahadur said orders had been issued to
Nestle to also "look into the quality" of other Maggi batches, following
some samples reportedly testing positive for possessing
higher-than-permissible levels of lead and monosodium glutamate.
Nestle
sought to dispel roumours that orders had been issued to reacall all
batches of Maggi. In an e-mail statement to IANS, the companty said the
batch in question had already passed the "best before" date in November
last year, and was sure that it had automatically been recalled.
As
regards the batch in question, the Nestle statement said: "Quality and
safety of our products are the top priorities for our company," and
added: "We have submitted the product samples to an independent
accredited laboratory and will share the results with the authorities."
The company also said: "People can be confident that Maggi noodle products are safe to eat."
The
samples, authorities in Lucknow said, were taken from a lot in Easy Day
departmental store at Barabanki, a district on the outskirts of the
state capital, last week. But Nestle maintained it was confident over
these packs being no longer in citculation in the market.
"The company does not agree with the order and is filing the requisite representations with the authorities."
The
state's Chief Food Safety Officer Sanjay Pratap Singh added that more
samples had been taken for testing and the teams from the department
were asked to track if any Maggi packets from that batch were still in
circulation in the market.
The central food safety authority also told IANS it has initiated precautionary steps.
"We
have asked the UP government for reports regarding the tests (on Maggi
noodles). Action will be taken according to what comes out," said Food
Safety Authority of India Director Bimal Kumar Dubey. He, however, said
no orders to the company had yet been issued from the authority.
On
the issue of MSG, Nestle said while it does not add it to Maggi noodles
sold in India, and stated that as much on the packaging, the use of
hydolysed groundnut protein, onion powder and wheat flour to make the
noodles all contain glutamate.
"We believe the authorities’
tests may have detected glutamate, which occurs naturally in many
foods," Nestle said, alluding that it may have been confused with MSG.
On lead, it said, regular monitoring that was a part of stringent
quality control consistently indicated adherence to permissible limits.
Reacting
to the developments, the programme manager for food safety with the
Centre for Science and Environment, Amit Khurana, said such tests should
be a matter of routine for food safefy authorities. "We congratulate
the Uttar Pradesh team for that."
Similarly, Consumer Unity and
Trusts Society, a non-government organisation, said products like Maggi
are consumed by a large number of people and any doubt over safety must
be taken seriously. "The food regulatory authorities must be
strengthened for this," spokesperson Udai Mehta told IANS.
The
social media had its own set of remarks, some in a lighter vein, and
some more serious since the noodle in question is a popular brand that
completed its silver jubilee a few years ago.
"A group of Indian
hostelers have threatened to leave India if Maggi is banned," Tweeted
Zaid Hamid, speaking for students like him living in campuses, with whom
Maggi has been a hit due to its availability, easy cooking-ways and
pocket-friendliness.
"The truth is MSG (monosodium glutamate) is
widely used in Asian cooking and is present in all processed food like
pizza, pasta, etc," posted Somya Gupta, on a handle that's been created
for this, #maggiban, and has been trending well.
"Maggi, the
tempting two-minute quick fix and instant pleasure for all hunger pangs,
is now in hot water," said another tweet by Chandana Roy.